


The Echoes of Wonder, the Claims of Triumph and the Signs of Horror

by toolazytomakeone



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Slow Burn, but first they have shared trauma to heal, catra and adora are journalists, solving crimes being gay, they'll get there...eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22431586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toolazytomakeone/pseuds/toolazytomakeone
Summary: Adora Larimar is starting her dream job at the Bright Moon Times as a young journalist in their new Serious Crimes Investigative Journalism unit. This is everything she's been working for since she found her passion for journalism in college, and she's fairly certain that nothing will stop her upward momentum - that is, until she meets her new partner/old friend, Catra Guerrero.“Journalism can never be silent: That is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.”— Henry Anatole Grunwald
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	The Echoes of Wonder, the Claims of Triumph and the Signs of Horror

**Author's Note:**

> so this is my first fic ever, and i really hope to get feedback and keep this up! i think this would be a really fun story to write and a nice challenge to myself to keep updating :) rating will possibly change in the future ;)

Adora gave herself one last long look in her mirror before she pushed away from the bathroom sink, flashing herself a nervous smile. Today was her first day working for the Bright Moon Times, the most prominent and well-read newspaper in Etheria. Ever since she found her passion for journalism when she attended college, she could only dream of landing a job here; even now, just minutes before she had to leave to be on time, she could hardly believe it. Of course, it hadn’t been easy - countless hours spent writing listicles for her university’s newsletters, grinding her way up the workplace ladder at other smaller papers across the city, all to earn herself the chance to score an interview for the Times. It may have helped that her best friend’s mother, Angella Feldspar, was one of the top editors at the paper, but she absolutely _insisted_ that Angella not be a part of the interviewing process. It wouldn’t be fair, Adora said; she needed to know that she _belonged_ there, had earned and deserved her place, if she were to be given one.

And now, about a month after getting the best phone call of her life with an offer at the BMT as a junior writer, she was still riding that high of self-sustained success. She was confident that nothing and no-one but herself got her to where she was, and she was damn sure that this was far from the end of her climb up the ranks. Adora was many things, and being righteously stubborn and doggedly persistent were her two most dominant traits - as far as she was concerned, she was only getting started.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t nervous to start her career, though. Thousands of different embarrassing possible scenarios flashed through her mind as she readjusted her outfit in the mirror. _What if I’m asked to get coffee and I get the order wrong? What if there’s traffic and when I bring it back it’s cold? Oh Eternia, what if I trip and spill it on an editor?_

Thankfully, she’s broken out of her spiraling train of thought when her phone buzzes in her jacket pocket. She has a message from Bow:

_BOW-tiful <3 (7:23 am): go get em Adora!!!!! You’re going to CRUSH your first day!!!! love and support you forever, bow xoxoxo _

Adora can’t help the smile that stretches across her face. She swears her friends have some sort sort of sixth sense for when she starts to doubt herself.

_ADORA-ble :P (7:25 am): Thanks Bow :) I’ll make sure to let you and Glimmer know how today goes!! Have a good day yourself <3 _

He responds a minute or two later with an absolute barrage of inspirational cat pictures (he seems to have an endless supply of them whenever he wants to support his friends - Adora suspects he makes them himself), and Adora maintains her smile all the way through her commute to the BM Times building. 

***

Adora has a brief moment upon entering the lobby of the veritable skyscraper where she’s _sure_ that some mistake has been made, this can’t _possibly_ be the place she’s working at now, because the place is _incredible_. High-lofted ceilings, marble floors, tasteful decorations, people hurrying about in suits and dresses that could pay for three months’ worth of Adora’s rent; it’s such a culture shock that Adora has to fight the urge to turn tail and exit the revolving doors she just entered through.

She gives herself a mental shake, reminds herself that she _belongs_ here, she’s _earned it_ , takes a steadying breath, and walks up to the receptionist’s desk. 

“Hello! My name is Adora Larimar, and it’s my first day here, and I was hoping you could-”

Adora is abruptly cut off by one finger, nail painted sea-green, its owner never looking up from her computer. She appears to be utterly uninterested in everything Adora just said, and leaves her hanging for a solid 30 seconds while she types away at something on her screen.

Finally, she rips her eyes from the screen and gives Adora perhaps the blankest stare she’s ever been given. “Sorry, what.” Her words imply a question, but her tone implies _please never talk to me again._

“Uh, hi,” Adora stutters. “My - my name is Adora Larimar. It’s my first day in the Investigative Journalism unit, and -”

“Seventeenth floor,” the receptionist replies, and immediately returns her attention to the computer at her desk.

Adora can’t help the handful of seconds she stands there, completely taken off-guard by the woman’s behavior. First the shock of the building’s interior, then the callous way she was just spoken too; she sincerely hopes that the rest of the people at the Times aren’t like this.

But she can’t write the receptionist off completely - maybe she’s just had a bad morning. Adora can’t begin to count the number of times she’s wanted to throttle customers and coworkers after an article flopping or a snide comment made by a supervisor. _Well, if that’s the case, I’ll give her a little positivity, since that always makes my days better; if she’s just naturally like this, then at least I’m the better person, right?_

“I really like your earrings,” she says, and it’s not even a half-assed compliment. They’re beautiful, golden silhouettes of what look like mermaids, and they dangle delicately from the woman’s ears, pairing nicely with her dark complexion.

The receptionist’s eyes immediately flash to hers, and she reaches slightly towards the earrings, as if she forgot she was wearing them. “Thanks,” she replies, and she seems to have actual emotion in her voice this time. “Little boutique shop on 73rd and Gilmore.”

“Oh, I live around there! I’ll have to check it out,” Adora says, and gives the receptionist a winning smile. _Nice! I actually love boutique shops. When they’re cheap, that is._

The other woman seems to hesitate for a second, and then gives Adora a barely perceptible smile in return. “Elevators are around the corner,” she says, and points Adora in the right direction.

Adora says her thanks, flashes another smile, and makes her way towards the bank of elevators on the other side of the lobby. When she makes to turn the corner the receptionist pointed out, she gives the desk one last glance, and smiles even wider when she sees the woman looking at her reflection in her phone screen, obviously admiring the earrings for herself. _Adora: 1, Bad Vibes: 0._

She steps into the elevator, clicks the button marked _17._ All of the buttons are decorated in a pattern reminiscent of the moon’s phases - floors one through ten show a moon waning from full to new, eleven through twenty wax from new to full, and so on until the fiftieth and final floor. While she’s admiring this decorative touch ( _Seriously, is there_ anything _in this building that isn’t over the top?_ ), she almost misses the soft sound of the doors sweeping open, revealing the seventeenth floor. Adora gives her outfit one last hasty brush-down, and steps into the fray.

Immediately, she’s surrounded by organized chaos: bulletin boards with strings connecting pictures to one another decorate office spaces, interns and writers alike bustling around with endless supplies of coffee, the hurried _clack_ of keyboards filling the air around it all. It all feels like coming home to Adora.

There’s another receptionist’s desk up here as well, but it seems as though the woman behind it is much more inviting than her counterpart downstairs. She notices Adora almost immediately after she steps through the elevator doors, and stands up to greet her as she approaches the desk.

“Hello!” the woman gushes, “My name is Perfuma, assistant administrative manager here in Investigative Journalism. Can I help you with something?” A warm smile stays on her face the entire time, and Adora can tell it’s genuine. Everything about Perfuma seems to be, from her clothes that appear to be hand-stitched to the plethora of potted plants that decorate her desk and its surrounding space.

“Nice to meet you Perfuma!” Adora tries her best to match the other woman’s energy. “My name is Adora Larimar, and I’m starting my first day here -”

“Oh!” Perfuma exclaims, “ _you’re_ the new hire! Oh please, follow me - I’ll give you a tour and show you down to Ms. Feldspar’s office! She asked for me to bring you in when you arrived, but I think a little detour to everyone’s space would be beneficial to attune you to all of our different energies. Please, come along!” She had made her way around her desk while she was speaking, and gently (but firmly) grasps Adora’s wrist when she turns and makes her way to head deeper into the department.

Adora can’t say she minds Perfuma’s enthusiasm, even if it’s a tad strong. She gently extricates herself from Perfuma’s grasp, but it seems she doesn’t really notice, as she has already thrown her way headlong into her introductory speech.

“Over here, we have the desks of Mrs. Netossa and Spinnerella, our resident experts on local corporate corruptions and worker’s rights!” It seems as though what was once two separate desk spaces have been joined into one, with personal effects and decorations filling every available space. At the sound of Perfuma’s voice, two women look up from the desks inside (like everything else, the desks themselves are conjoined into one long piece) and simultaneously give Adora a smile. 

“Who’ve you got captive now, Perfuma?” one of them asks, but it’s clearly good-naturedly. The other woman gives her a slight swat, but she’s smiling too.

“Adora Larimar, our new colleague!” Perfuma responds, and it’s hard for Adora to remember her nervousness when Perfuma declares her a _colleague,_ and with such evident enthusiasm.

“Oh, you’re the one Angella was talking about!” says the other woman. “We’ve heard lots of great things about you! I’m Spinnerella, and this is my wife, Netossa.”

Adora gives them a slightly embarrassed smile ( _of_ course _Angella talked me up,_ she thinks) and gives a small wave in response. “It’s great to meet the both of you. I loved the collaboration piece you both did a few months ago about the workplace violations at Horde, Inc.!”

Netossa smiles and ribs Spinnerella gently, saying, “Hey, not often we meet a fan.” Spinnerella gives her a long-suffering, but fond, look. “We really appreciate it though, Adora,” Netossa continues. “Looking forward to working with you.”

“You too!” Adora responds, and before she can even begin to look around the office again, Perfuma is saying her goodbyes to the pair and whisking Adora down to another deskspace. 

The sunny admin leads Adora to the next office space, and the duo have to weave through stacks and stacks of obviously archived newspapers and what seems to be scrap metal to reach the department’s next writer.

“Entrapta?” Perfurma calls out, and is almost immediately answered when a woman with long, purple pigtails pokes her head out from under her desk.

“Ah, Perfuma! Wonderful timing - I was just about to fetch someone to witness the improvements I’ve made to my stock market scanner. I predict I shall be able to identify less-than-savory corporate dealings approximately 37% faster, and I’m just getting started!” She pauses for breath for the first time, and seems to just now have noticed Adora. “Oh, hello. Are you here to witness the science at work here as well?”

“No, Entrapta,” Perfuma responds, “this is Adora Larimar, one of our new hires. She’ll be working under Mrs. Feldspar in our new Serious Crimes branch.”

“Oooh, how exciting! I anticipate we will be working together as well - I work primarily on identifying political corruption in all forms and exposing them, but that often involves much hands-on technological approaches to finding corrupt acts before they can be covered up. Oh, perhaps I can craft a specialized police scanner for your observations?”

“Oh, well I would certainly...appreciate the offer, thank you!” Adora replies. _Wildly different energies in here indeed, Perfuma_. 

Entrapta seems to have already excused herself from the conversation, muttering, “Yes, yes, I would simply have to appropriately adjust the frequencies coming in from my stock market analyzer…”

“I believe that’s the most we’ll get out of Entrapta for now,” Perfuma says, smiling knowingly over at Adora. “Come, I’ll show you to the area you’ll be operating in before I take you to Mrs. Feldspar’s office; the energy in your workspace is quite refreshing, I think you will enjoy it!”

Once again, Adora is ushered farther into the department’s interior, passing through an open door into a boardroom-sized workspace where two L-shaped desks have been arranged in a sort of separated square, with filing cabinets, whiteboards on wheels, cork-boards, and several potted plants ( _thanks, Perfuma_ ) populating the room. There’s a counter alongside one wall with a coffee maker, a toaster, microwave, and a mini-fridge alongside that appears to be pre-filled with amenities. The space also happens to be in the corner of the building, and there’s a lovely view of downtown Bright Moon to be seen from any place in the room.

“Wow,” Adora breathes. “This is - this is beyond incredible. All of this space, and the view, and the kitchen, for me?”

“Well, you and your partner!” Perfuma cheerfully replies. She points to the door of the boardroom and sees a plaque that she had previously missed in her awe of her new workspace: _A.L. & C.G., Serious Crimes Unit _ is engraved into it.

“Oh, my partner, o-of course!” Adora had, perhaps, completely forgotten that she was hired alongside another relatively young writer for this department. She remembers Angella saying something along the lines of, “Younger eyes seeing more,” or some wise-sounding saying like that. Honestly, everything that woman said felt like a royal prophecy, for better or worse.

“Yes, she arrived a little before you did; I believe she’s still making her formal introductions to Mrs. Feldspar, but she should be finished shortly! I’m quite looking forward to how the two of you will work together - if my first impressions are correct, then this office will certainly see an abundance of passionate energy with the both of you collaborating!”

Adora honestly quite sure how to respond to predictions of “passion", with her new partner no less- _workplace_ partner. Normal, professional relationship. _Damn it, Adora._

“Ah, good? Um, how is she? I don’t really know anything about her, since they wanted to keep the application process as anonymous as possible between candidates. Honestly, I don’t even know her name,” Adora admits, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck.

Perfuma’s eyes light up at something over Adora’s shoulder, in the direction of Angella’s office. “Wonderful timing - you can ask Ms. Guerrero yourself!”

On reflex, Adora’s whole body tenses up and her eyes widen. _Could be anyone. It’s not like it’s an extraordinarily rare last name. It just so happens that my new partner has her last name and they share a first initial. Could be anyone._

As if in slow motion, Adora turns to face her new partner. As soon as her eyes meet the hauntingly familiar figure walking out of Angella’s office, her heart sinks all the way down to the lobby. Adora can almost hear the receptionist judging her soul from here.

“Adora,” Perfuma obliviously continues, “this is your new partner, our other new colleague - Ms. Catra Guerrero!”

_Eternia save me._

**Author's Note:**

> Angella’s (and Glimmer’s) last name is Feldspar as moonstone (the real-life basis for Glimmer’s/Bright Moon’s Runestone) is a type of feldspar silicate!  
> Adora’s last name is Larimar because it’s a pretty blue gem that sort of reminds me of the stone set in the Sword of Protection :3  
> Catra’s last name (Guerrero) means “warrior” in Spanish >:3  
> Bow’s last name is Fletcher (a little on the nose but hey, so is Bow) :)


End file.
